ROBYN Lamsam, or Ng Siu-bun in Cantonese, is synonymous to Hong Kong swimming - being the territory's fastest woman swimmer since 1992 when she was just a 14-year-old.
Fame and success, however, did not come easy for Robyn who took up swimming at the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club when she was seven.
She quickly made her mark in age group competitions and was drafted into the junior training squad at the age of nine, under the wings of coach David Haller at the Jubilee Sports Centre (now renamed the Hong Kong Sports Institute).
A determined Robyn set a very ambitious target for herself, and that was to make the team for the 1992 Olympic Games. Robyn followed a rigorous training programme which required her to wake up well before the sun was up and completed a tough morning session before she went off to school. Her efforts paid off as she was selected for the 1992 Barcelona Olympiad, as the only woman swimmer in the Hong Kong squad.
Despite making a name for herself in Hong Kong, Robyn is still not satisfied and is determined to make her mark on the international stage.
With full support from her parents, Robyn gave up studies at the Diocesan Girls' School last year to become a full-time swimmer and travelled extensively for overseas training.
She will be flying Hong Kong's colours at next month's Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, but her new goal is to win medals at the Hiroshima Asian Games in October.